Cable lock



Patented Dec. 24, 1940 CABLE Loox Robert B. Rich'olt, Burbank, Calif., assignorto Lockheed Aircraft of California Corporation, a corporation Application November 28, 1938, Serial No. 242,783 v9 Claims.l (Cl. 'i4-222) This invention relates to locks for flexible lin ear elements, and more particularly to the type of lock whereby a cable, rope, or like means, is releasably attached to a rotatable member, as a pulley or sheave, to prevent relative movement` e lli ganged together as a compact unit. thereby saving valuable space, weight, material and cost.

A further object is to provide a method and apparatus of simple and economical character by which positive locking of a cable to a movable member results, it being an especial feature of the invention that it avoids the altering of the cable in any way, and that the cable may be adjusted with respect to the movable member as desired.' This feature is very advantageous in that the cable or pulley doesnot have to be prefabricated for the particular installationy in which it is to be used. Another object of the invention is to provide one particular size of lock which may be employed for various sizes of cable stock. Further objects and advantages will become apparent during the course of the' following description taken in connection with the drawing inwhich: e Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a' pulley adapted to receive the cable lock of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the pulley of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the cable lock device; t

o Fig. 4 is a cross-sectionalview of apulley withI a lock device associated therewith; A

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. l with the lookin engaged position;

Fig. 6 is `a similar assembled cross-sectional view taken on the line B-l of Fig. l;V and Fig. rl is an exterior view of the lock portion of the assembly shown in Fig. 6.

In the preferred embodiment the Vcable lock incorporating my invention is shown attached to an ordinary sheave, or pulley wheel Il although, it may also be used to connect a cable. or `other flexible 'linear means capable of withstanding tension or pull, to an arcuate or circular member, 5% an arm of a bellcrank or wherever it is desired to convert the linear movement of the cable'linto positive angular movement of a member to which it is attached. Although my invention is capable of numerous applications, for purposes of illustration, only one adaptation to a sheave has been 5 shown in the drawing as it is believed that this is suflicient to teach the invention.

Generally speaking, the invention comprehends a member with radial elements, such as the pulley wheel I0 and a wedge-like cable holding member, 10 or lock device i2 which is adapted to be received in a suitable slot i4, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 particularly. The peripheral shape of the slot Itis such that' it receives the wedge member i2 to an extent sumcient to hold the latter therein l5 in a substantially tlxed, or wedgedrelationship. As shown, the bottom i6 of the slot I4 is circumscribed bythe arc of a circle and has sides Il extending tangentially therefrom so as to be slightly divergent with respect to each other. m The slot Il isalso provided with a rib 20 preferably oi. rectangular cross-section and of linear shapecorresponding to the slot periphery, but terminating short of the cable groove. This rib 20 is preferably formed integrally with the sheave g5 i0 but is not as wide as the slot, as is best shown in Fig. 2. The purpose of the rib will be hereinafter described.

The Awedge member I2 comprises two parallel flanges or side plates 22 spaced by a portion 24 30 which generally corresponds in outline to the pei rlpheral shape of the sides 22, but of lesser sur- 'v face area and with rounded ends. V'Ihe thickness of, or distance between the faces of the wedge is slightly less thanthat of the pulley, as shown in 35 Fig. 5, to permit a number ofy pulleys to be closely arranged. In practice it has been found desirable to cast the member l2I as a solid `unit and then machine it so that a channel or cable groove 2l is cut therein. This channel is cut to such dimensions as to render it capable of being slid over the previously mentioned rib 2li, -such that the sharp corners of the latter ride on the sloping faces of the flanges to give a tight -wedging action when the parts become fully telescoped. As best shown in Figs. 4 to 6 inclusive, the channel is of greater depth than the rib 2| so as toprovide a space adapted to receive a bightor single run of an operating cable such as 2l, which is also wedged or frictionally held between'th'ef sides of 5 the groove. Thedepth of the latter is sumcient to accommodate several diierent cable diameters, which when wedged `between the sides grabs the wedge better than when a small diameter ycable leasably attached to the sheave il merely by passing a selected loop or bight completely around the periphery of portion 24 (see Fig. 4) of member I2 following which the latter member may be slid into the slot i4 until it wedges therein. The free ends of thev cable 2l may then be laid within the 'groove 30 ofthe pulley to extend therefrom and be attached to their permanent operating connections (not shown). With this arrangement there is a positive drive connection between the pulley and the cable due to the fact that the cable is wedged between the ilanges of lock i2 in close association therewith, the resulting friction developed between the cable and the wedgey i2 being suiiicient to prevent slipping or relative movement. As shown in Fig. "i, the inner end of the wedge is slightly more blunt than the radius of the slot bottom at I6, such that a crescentshaped clearance space is maintained. By having this space it insures the proper wedging eii'ect along the straight portions of the tapering sides with the result that the wedge l2 is not permitted to rock back and forth in the notch under rei attachment to its supporting structure.

versal of load. This has been found to be relatively important to prevent "play getting into a control system. Theclearance adequately takes care of manufacturing tolerances and any wear that may come from frequent removal and re.

placement ofthe wedge. y

The sheave in Fig. 1 isshownfprovided with a control link or arm 32 rotatably attached thereto by the pivot 33 at a predetermined radius, whereby` angular movement oi the sheave is transmitted by the arm to the desired control, such as the engine throttle or other controls. The sheave in such installations is preferably hushed or provided with a suitable anti-friction 'bearing 34 which is tightly fitted to form a hub for rotatable mounting upon a shaft or a bolt for pulleys may lpreferably be provided. as in Fig. 4, with a keyway 3l, or other similar means,- to transmit such positive movement to a shaft or other similar member.

If, after installation, it becomes desirable to shift the pulley with respect to the cable all that is necessary is to uncouple or slacken one end of the cable, withdraw the lock device from the slot, shift it to a new position on the cable, reinsert it in the slot and as soon as the slack is taken up and the tension returned to'the cable thel locking thereof to the pulley will take place. It should be noted that no' cutting or alteration of the cableis requiredl upon .the making of such an adjustment and that the channel 2G may be cut with such dimensions that various sized cables can be accommodated therein. Y Another advantage lies in the fact that adustments ber, and means adapted for releasably locking the cable to said member comprising a lock member grooved completely around one circumference to receive a bight of said cable and in- Other j wedge to a predetermined depth and the relperiphery cut out, a cable attaching arrange- With this construction the cable 28 may be re` sertable only in a radial direction upon said guide to wedge within the said slot whereby the cable is secured against relative movement.

-2. In combination, a exible tensioning element, a pulley wheel having a slot disposed at the s periphery thereof, a member grooved around one circumference to receive a bight of said tensioning element and insertable into wedging relationship wholly within said slot with the grooved circumference in contact with the slot 10 walls, whereby said tensioning element is retained in said groove by the walls of said slot and means projecting into the groove of said member to prevent lateral displacement thereof.

3. In combination, a cable, a pulley wheel hav.- 15 ing a cutout portion extending inwardly from the periphery thereof, a guide strip extending into the cutout sides, a grooved member adapted for insertion into said cutout space by sliding lupon said guide. the latter fitting within said 20 diate bight portion of said cable and adapted l0 for radial insertion into said cut-out portion by sliding upon said guide means whereby the cable is conned in said groove by the walls of the cut-out portion, the said guide means engaging .the side of said groove whereby lateral displacement of said wedge from the said cut-out portion is prevented.

5. In a pulley wheel having a eut-out portion extending through its periphery, a cable attaching arrangement comprising a grooved wedge adapted for insertion into said cut-out portion, guide means associated with said cut-out p0rtion to cooperate with said grooved wedge, the guide means iltting within the groove of said 45 mainder of said groove having tapered sides and being adapted for occupation by a portion of a cable.

6. In a pulley wheel having a portion of its ment comprising a member adapted for insertion into said cut-out portion and guide means to prevent lateralmovement of said member in said cut-out portion, the said arrangement being adapted to receive a portion of a. cable in nonslidable 'relationship between said member and the walls of said cut-out portion.

7. `In combination with a sheave having a revcessed guide portion, a cable, and a cable lock to transmit tension, a sheave member adapted 7 n for angular movement having a radially ydisposed slot4 extending transversely through the periphery thereof, said slot tapering toward the axis of said sheave member and means adapted for releasably locking the flexible element -to Il said sheave member comprising a lock member shaped to be entirely received in said slot and grooved around one circumference to receive a bight of said ilexible element and insertable only in aradlal direction into said slot in its locking relationship. n

9. In combination, a continuous flexible tensioning element, a pulley member adapted for angular movement and having a vsloi; in its pe- 10 rlphery extending fully across` the face thereof,

a guide positioned within said slot in the plane of said angular movement, and locking means adapted for releasably locking the ilexible element to said member comprising a wedge centrally grooved to receive a bight of said element and radially insertable into said slot and upon said guide in wedging relationship to lock said tensioning element to said pulley member.

ROBERT R. RICHOLT. 

